A study of migration patterns among residents of an urban Bolivian neighbourhood sheds light on how households access resources, and the impact of ethnic identity markers on their ability to do so. The study shows how, in an ethnically divided society, households of rural, indigenous Andean background use migration as part of a complex range of strategies to access resources through space and across social and ethnic divides. The study demonstrates the limitations that these migrant households face, and their implications for social and economic development in Bolivia.